1. How would you characterize Martha Stewart’s initial public relations response to the charges against her?
Martha Stewart’s initial response was inappropriate. She should have shifted from her usual image of being blunt, stern and tight-lipped to a more accommodating. She did not answer the press when asked and instead went online later to issue her response. Her stance conveyed an image of aloofness. It was time to speak but instead she stayed silent. She needed to reassure her supporters and stakeholders that she is fine and they will overcome the problems.
2. What key public relations principle that Martha Stewart violate?
Availability and timing . These two principles work in tandem especially in crisis situations. Stewart was in a crisis situation. She should not address the situation as a regular PR problem. It is a life and death situation as far as her career and reputation are concerned. On those occasions that she was facing the press, especially the first time, she should have made herself available at that moment and gave a response to the questions. She need answer questions when ambushed by reporters. She can schedule press conferences without violating gag orders or other limitations. Since she was going to issue a response online anyway, she should have made the statement to the press when asked. The timing was late and events were already overtaking her.
3. Had you been advising her, what public relations strategy and tactics would you have recommended? How vocal should she have been?
At first sign of a crisis, it is important to engage the audience immediately, especially the media . Even saying that one is not allowed to speak of details can be a sufficient response. That is why the first thing that spokespersons of companies in crisis situations do is to issue statements that they are working hard to put the situation under control and everything is being investigated. Stewart should have engaged the public instead of keeping her mouth shut in front of the media at first chance. It is important that she reassure the media that she is fine, she acted in good faith and aware of no wrong-doing and whatever happens, her stakeholders hopefully would remain fine.
Stewart need not disclose anything more than she did in her websites. The problem is the timing and the medium. She should have answered the media the first instance she was asked. She need not say anything different. She just had to state the same things she posted online. If she was not ready for an answer, she could have responded by saying that she is not ready to answer as she has been distraught with the situation and unable to think coherently. An honest answer like that is much better than tight-lipped silence in front of the cameras.
4. How important, from a public relations perspective, was her decision to go to jail early?
It was a very important and pivotal move. Stewart’s decision to go to jail allowed her to recover some of her lost reputation. It was a form of apology and retribution. In crisis PR, an apology can be a critical factor in changing the course of the crisis. People—including stakeholders—have feelings. While appealing to emotions is a fallacy and cannot win cases in court, it can influence and change people perceptions and attitudes. Stewart’s move took people by surprise as most expected her to fight on. The move immediately changed people’s attitude toward her and facilitated her return and rise again in the industry. Even if the move had negative perceptions, it did raise interest in her and made people to continue to follow her. Otherwise, she could have been completely gone or forgotten as what happened to many celebrities who went to jail.
5. What public relations strategy should she adopt now?
Martha Stewart should cultivate and reinforce her new image of being more relaxed and probably kinder. Her former bluntness could turn off people and make them feel that she deserved all that happened to her. She should cultivate and strengthen her new image.
Stewart may not be able to regain her old, strong hold in traditional media; others have already taken over from her. Her old followers may not take that much interest in her anymore. She may not be able to get as much mileage on traditional media as she was able to in the past.
However, there is a huge market of younger generation audiences. She should target these people. She can reach out to them through new media—the internet and other social media accounts.
Stewart should be more active in Facebook and Twitter. She should discuss other topics other than her usual interests. She should tackle topics that would interest young people, especially teenage girls. Topics may include quick and easy ways for teenage girls to prepare food and entertain.
Stewart should maintain separate YouTube channels for different audiences. Videos should be produced specifically for young people. Aside from the usual format of cooking demo with a guest celebrity, she can enhance the videos by including a teenage co-host.
She may want to consider having different websites for different audiences. She should maintain her old website and format but she should have one for the younger generation. Content may not be much different; presentation and style should appeal to the younger set.
All her internet and social media sites should be linked together and optimized for quick engine searches.
Smile. This may seem to be a trivial recommendation, but Stewart should try to smile more often especially in video productions targeting young people. She should avoid her old blunt and unfeeling stance as she may convey an image of being unreformed in spite of everything that happened.
6. Should she acknowledge that she made mistakes?
No. She should not anymore volunteer information that she made mistakes and how she made them. Her going to prison early—even if she continued to claim innocence—is enough. It was a form of apology already. It was already a statement that she had been punished for whatever mistakes committed in that incident and in her life. Her imprisonment had been widely reported in the news. It has also been discussed thoroughly in her biography . That is enough.
However, should she be asked the question again, she should not take the aloof and stern stance that she had in the past. She should stay relaxed and friendly as this is the new image she is now perceived to have. She need not discuss any details about incidents in the past. She will have to be gracious and polite in answering questions. She can answer the questions without actually answering them. She can say: “Yes, I have committed mistakes as everyone else in this world would have. I have actually suffered and punished for them and even for mistakes that I did not commit. Whatever happened in the past, I would rather not delve on them. I have moved on and would want to dwell on the more positive things in life.” This is actually what her new image is conveying as she had been able to rise again. She should sustain it and live up to its.
Walmart’s Bribery Shutdown
1. Had you been public relations counselor to CEO Scott at the time of the bribery allegations, what would you have counselled him to do?
CEO Scott should have been allowed to face the press. The refusal of the officers to agree to any interviews was important, aggravating factor that sent the company’s plunging down. The New York Times revived the issue of bribery that the company had dismissed in its internal investigations. The newspaper conducted its own investigations for several years and came out with a credible report.
Scott should be advised that the company is already in crisis mode. He should be advised that a crisis plan is being rushed and he should be ready to face the press and answer questions . All questions from the press should be anticipated and all answers will have to be prepared and written in advance all persons who would have to appear before the press—including and especially Scott—will have to memorize or be very familiar with so they will not appear scripted. Scott will have to be reassured that he need not answer all the questions and provide the details. His appearance is mainly to reassure the public that he is on top of the situation and the company is doing everything to investigate and clarify the matter. A spokesperson will have to be designated to answer all the questions. Scott can always refer the press to the spokesperson as he may not be able to answer the questions.
Availability of key persons to the press is a key principle in PR, especially during crisis. Timing is also critical. Statements should be issued before potential problems erupt.
In the case of the bribery scandal, the CEO is the most critical person that the press may need to interview. Avoiding the press could only aggravate the situation as what indeed happened.
2. How would you characterize Walmart’s internal and external response to the bribery charges?
Walmart’s internal and external response seems to be characteristic of the company. It can be perceived as being heavy handed and controlling of all the people in the company. It would seem like it was acting with impunity and attempting get round the laws just to get what it wants.
Walmart’s behavior would not strike one as anything new. It already has a bad reputation for manipulating employees and suppliers to get everything in its favor. The company is perceived to be doing everything to maximize its profits. While the company is perceived badly in these areas, it continues to enjoy huge patronage. It continues to be the top retailer in the US.
3. How significantly do you think the bribery allegations impacted the company’s reputation?
Walmart suffered a serious blow to its reputation with stockholders especially in the short term. The company suffered a huge paper loss estimated at more than $4 billion. However, the issue did not seem to have any long term impact. The company has recovered from the loss and had continued to enjoy great patronage. It remains the number one retailer in the US in spite of all that happened.
With regard to public perception, the company merely lived up to its negative. Its behavior was characteristic of what the company has been purported to be. Its behavior simply reinforced perceptions that it would do anything to earn profits and achieve its goals—even if illegal and exploitative. In this regard, the scandal would not have dented Walmart’s reputation; it merely reinforced and validated people’s perceptions.
The events did not affect the company’s sales performance and market position. It remains at the top of the industry.
4. What should Walmart’s public relations posture be going forward, relative to the bribery charges?
Walmart should try to convey a friendlier image especially to the press. Since it has already experienced a crisis (several times), it should have a crisis plan ready that could be easily accessed by concerned persons. A crisis need always come as a surprise. Responses to many crises issues can be similar and knowledge of how this was done in the past or how others have done can come in handy.
There are issues with the company—i.e., employee treatment and welfare —that cannot be addressed by PR. Some things need to be resolved by internal policy or management changes. However, if this is not possible, the company should come up with more and substantial corporate social responsibility and philanthropic projects. Cutting down on the use of plastics and innovative packaging is responsible citizenship but do not count as corporate social responsibility (CSR) or philanthropy. More programs to enhance community and employee welfare need to be undertaken.
The new generation of owners lacks the charisma of the original owner, Sam Walton who was perceived as kind and generous. The new owners are perceived as greedy and are sometime considered as icons of inequality in the US. The owners need to be packaged and image-managed. They will have be seen as involved in civic and philanthropic activities. The activities they will have to be involved in should be substantial and genuine philanthropy. They should not be the kind that is easily recognized as token PR activities. Walmart is closely associated with the owners. Any publicized activity of the owners affects Walmart’s overall reputation.
Walmart should also identify areas where there can be potential problems or crisis. It should thus come up with programs in these areas. So, should any problem explode, the CSR program could help assuage bad feelings resulting from the problem.
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